America typically has the largest or one of the largest teams at international pool swimming competitions, especially at the World Championships or Olympic Games.

While this is not true in the open water swimming community, Team USA is trying to increase its numbers of participants.

The International Ice Swimming Association USA (IISA USA) announced 48 swimmers from across America will represent the Red, White, and Blue at the International Ice Swimming 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy to be held between January 13th and 19th 2025.  Lake Molveno is located in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 40 km northwest of Trento.

Joe Zemaitis, Chairman of the IISA USA Board of Directors, coached young Keaton Jones to five world championship titles in Samoëns, France in 2023. He will lead swimmers from ages 18 to 80 including:

• Elizabeth Almond
• Chris Ballard
• Mary Ann Pickford Best
• Jacqueline Broner
• Louise Darlington
• Martin Davies
• Rena Demeo
• Tricia Elmer
• Quinn Fitzgerald
• Ed Gabriels
• Margaret Gadzic
• Gerald George
• Claire Gorka Hilbers
• Danny Hatfield
• Marci Held
• Lara Henrichs
• Ted Hirsch
• Elaine K. Howley
• Jennifer Hynes
• Mary James
• Brian Jascot
• Eney Jones
• Ezmee Jones
• Keaton Jones
• Juliet Kadlecek
• Puranjot Kaur
• Janet Kylander Manning
• Mark Lautman
• Scott Lautman
• Qing Li
• David McGlynn
• Amy Meskill
• Jaimie Monahan
• Andie Nelson
• Susie Nolan Loiselle
• Virginia Peck
• Mariah Reading
• Vera Rivard
• Stephen Rouch
• Stephanie Schaeffer
• Rebecca Thompson
• Andrew Wallace
• Robyn Watts
• Martha Wood
• Lisa Yamamoto
• Joe Zemaitis
• John Zemaitis

The World Championship will be held in an 8 lane 50m outdoor pool and will have 12 age-groups and 15 events, including the Ice Kilometer and mixed relays with approximately 650 registered swimmers from 46 countries.

For more information about the event, visit here.

Team USA includes Triple Crowners, world championship podium finishers, and Keaton Jones, who placed 5th the 200m backstroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics (11 tenths of a second from an Olympic gold medal). Jones said in 2023, “I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for ice swimming at the IISA World Championship in Samoëns. What I discovered is that the ice community is one of a kind. They opened their arms and welcomed me into this crazy extreme sport. I have never felt more support or camaraderie than I experienced this weekend, not only with Team USA, but every other nation represented. This experience has been life changing. Thank you @samoens_officiel for hosting, @international_ice_swimming for opening my eyes to a new level of competition, @iisa_usa for giving me the opportunity to represent my country, @guinnessworldrecords for recognizing this sport, and all of the competitors that brought the best out of me. And Coach Joe Zemaitis @swimneptune for introducing me to ice swimming and believing in me. I’m walking away with 5/5 gold medals and 5/5 world records, but I gained much more than hardware. I’m not done with ice swimming just yet.”

Coach Zemaitis explains how the Americans were selected for Team USA, “Athletes were selected based on indicating their interest at the beginning of the summer.  We took into consideration their history and performance at Ice Swimming events in the past or extraordinary success in pool swimming if they didn’t have an ice swimming history.  We are already planning for our IISA USA National event in January of 2026 that we plan to use as a selection meet for the 2027 World Championship team.”

International Ice Swimming Association (IISA)

Ram Barkai will be hosting is sixth World Championship event. It only took him six years after the IISA was started in 2009 to begin a formal international championship event. The IISA is now conducting events in 46 diffeent countries where athletes from 73 countries have competed with 5,612 registered members. IISA USA was started in 2021 and now has 358 ice swimming members.

• IISA 1st World Championship: Murmansk, Russia in 2015
• IISA 2nd World Championship: Burghausen, Germany in 2017
• IISA 3rd World Championships: Murmansk, Russia in 2019
• IISA 4th World Championship: in Glogow, Poland in 2022
• IISA 5th World Championship in Samoëns, France in 2023
• IISA 6th World Championship: in Molveno, Italy in 2025

2024 Olympic 200m Backstroke Final

1. Hubert Kos, Hungary 1:54.26
2. Apostolos Christou, Greece 1:54.82 (national record)
3. Roman Mityukov, Switzerland 1:54.85 (national record)
4. Mewen Tomac, France 1:55.38 (national record)
5. Keaton Jones, USA 1:55.39 [shown below]
6. Hugo González, Spain 1:55.47
7. Pieter Coetze, South Africa 1:55.60 (African record)
8. Lukas Märtens, Germany 1:55.97

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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